Ontario Provincial Police have released the identity of a woman who died last weekend near Renfrew while attempting to rescue a fallen friend.
Amanda Tessier, 24, of Gatineau died when she fell about 10 metres down an embankment at around 2 a.m. Sunday. Police said a 20-year-old Aylmer man was injured when he fell down the embankment and used a cellphone to call his friends for help.
Tessier was one of those who came to rescue him. The man was admitted to hospital with internal injuries but survived. The seven friends, all from Gatineau and Aylmer, were on a camping trip near Renfrew, police said.
Tessier had a six-year-old daughter, Kyra, and a seven-month-old son, Nikolai, according to an obituary posted on the website of an Aylmer funeral home.
A trust fund was set up for the children. The description for the fund noted that Tessier died while coming to the rescue of a friend and said: “Amanda truly was an angel on earth.”
OPP also released the name of a man who died in an unrelated incident Saturday evening.
Phil Morris, 65, of Ottawa, died at a residence on Matawanooka Lake in the Township of Greater Madawaska after choking while eating food around a campfire.
Police said they did not suspect foul play, but are assisting the Ontario coroner’s office with investigations into both incidents.
